The following interview was conducted with 3 women wrestlers, i.e. Whitney Conder (USA), Jenna Rose Burkert (USA) and Neha Rathi (India), who competed in the Hari Ram Indian Wrestling Grand Prix Tournament, held between 25-27 May2012 at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi.
Experience:
Whitney Conder who represented Team USA talked about how this experience has been a brilliant and a learning one to come and participate in India. She also said that she got the opportunity to wrestle with some other very good wrestlers. Jenna Rose Burkert who also hails from USA said that she found this experience to be really good, especially being from the US and participating here. She also believes this to be a great opportunity as the matches she has competed in would certainly help her. Neha Rathi who represented Team India said that she didn't expect this tournament to be of such a large scale, but after coming here she realised that there are many countries like Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Japan, etc. So, she felt good to be here along with other female wrestlers. Moreover she expected to win a gold medal but instead got a silver medal.
Participation:
On being asked about the participation of women in wrestling Whitney Conder replied by saying that they have good female talent and several new wrestlers are there. Jenna Rose Burkert feels that every culture and country is different in terms of participation. Neha Rathi pointed out that it's been 13-14 years since she has been in this field, so it doesn't bother her to be a girl in this sport. She also said that she was preparing for the Olympics and this tournament is being played just before that. The Olympics are also for girls so it doesn't sound like it's a game meant only for males. There's Olympics and World Championship ahead. Since this tournament is being broadcasted live on television, it will boost the confidence of females as they will see women participate and they too would then like to participate. All of them feel that they've just started and there's a lot to do. Conder also remarked that females are at a pre-stage and a lot of work should be done for more participation since they have some very good tough female wrestlers.
Facilities:
Also speaking about the facilities Neha Rathi said that it is just like what you have at an international level. This is the 32nd time that she is participating in a competition and like the food, the stay, etc is very similar to what they get in foreign countries. So, she liked this tournament and wants it to happen every year.
(image:infomongolia.com)
